The Retirement Choice - United States Navy · 2019. 9. 23. · 7. The Statistical Abstract of the...

4825 Mark Center Drive • Alexandria, Virginia 22311-1850

CRM D0003713.A4/2REVApril 2004

The Retirement Choice

Aline O. Quester • Lewis G. Leewith Ian MacLeod

This document represents the best opinion of CNA at the time of issue. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of the Department of the Navy.

Distribution unlimited For copies of this document call: CNA Document Control and Distribution Section at 703-824-2123.

Copyright 2004 The CNA Corporation

Approved for distribution: April 2004

Henry S. Griffis, DirectorWorkforce, Education and Training TeamResource Analysis Division

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Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1How much is retirement income reduced

under REDUX? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Get paid now or get paid later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Breaking even: What return would you need

for your investment? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Foregone retirement income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10What if you live longer than 79 years? . . . . . . . . . . . . 11What if the $30,000 bonus is tax-free? . . . . . . . . . . . . 12The bonus/REDUX choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

TSP and the $30,000 continuation bonus . . . . . . . 14Appendix A: Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Appendix B: Another way of looking at

figures 1 through 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17List of figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21List of tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Introduction1

Military personnel who entered service after 31 July 1986 and who are eligible and intend to serve for 20 years must choose between two retirement plans at their 15th year of service.2 Once the final selection is made, the choice is irrevocable. What are the options?

1. High-3 retirement plan: Retirement pay is based on the highest average basic pay for 36 months of a person’s career. These are usually the last 3 years.

2. REDUX retirement plan plus a $30,000 bonus that is given at the 15th year of service: In return for accepting the bonus, REDUX pro-vides smaller retirement checks.

How should Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and Soldiers decide which option to take? The Department of Defense has a website3 that pro-vides information and examples to help servicemembers. At the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), we used a different approach that many have found useful in evaluating these retirement choices. Here we update that work for those making the decision in 2004.

We start by describing the bonus in the second choice as an early, par-tial cash-out of the servicemember’s retirement pension. This $30,000 cash-out will be paid back later in the form of reduced retirement checks. By providing information on how much this cash-out will cost in smaller, future retirement income, we hope that we can help service-members make more informed decisions about which plan to select.

1. Our work benefited from the support and review of several CNA col-leagues: Gerald Cox, Donald Cymrot, Michael Hansen, and Ann Parcell. Kathleen Utgoff (formerly Director of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation), John Warner (Clemson University), Susan Woodward (for-merly Chief Economist at the Security and Exchange Commission), Steve Cylke (Bureau of Naval Personnel), and Neil Singer (formerly Senior Defense Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office) provided critical insights. We thank them all for their help. The original paper was CNA Research Memorandum 3713.A1, published in April 2001.

2. Selection of the retirement plan begins at about 14.5 years of service.

3. The address of the DOD website is http://dod.mil/mililtarypay/retirement.

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First, though, let’s briefly look at the provisions of military retirement in general and then more specifically at the two plans. Both pension choices have the following features:

• Both provide retirement income as a percentage of the average of the highest 36 months of basic pay. There is no risk; the retirement payments are specified by law and guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

• Both offer deferred compensation for which no taxes are paid until the retired pay is received.4 Such plans are called tax-sheltered retire-ment plans.

• Both are protected against inflation. The High-3 has full inflation protection because it changes yearly with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), while bonus/REDUX has less protection (CPI minus 1 per-centage point). The value of inflation protection for retirement pay cannot be overemphasized. Most military members will be retired about 40 years. In 40 years, one can expect prices to increase at least four times, meaning what costs $1 at military retirement will end up costing $4.5

To summarize, military pensions are risk-free, tax-sheltered, inflation-adjusted annuities with options for spousal benefits (Survivor Benefit Plan) upon the death of the member. Such pension provisions are very expensive and are currently offered by only a few private-sector companies.

How much is retirement income reduced under REDUX?

Against this backdrop, let’s turn to the retirement choice in the 15th year of service. Choosing bonus/REDUX reduces income in retirement. The higher the grade and the lower the years of service at retirement, the

4. The services pay into the retirement fund each year, and the fund grows while the member is in the service. The servicemember has no tax liability for the service’s contributions to the retirement fund.

5. The Consumer Price Index in 2000 was over 5 times the level it was in 1960. This period includes the sharp inflation in 1974 (12.3 percent), 1979 (13.3 percent), and 1980 (12.5 percent). The commonly assumed 3.5-percent infla-tion rate leads to a fourfold increase in prices over a 40-year period.

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greater the reduction in retirement income. In short, fast-trackers who retire very early are penalized most severely. For all military per-sonnel, however, REDUX retirement income is substantially smaller than retirement income under High 3.6 Moreover, as each year passes, the difference between retirement income under REDUX and retirement income under High-3 increases. For example, the addi-tional reduction in retirement income under REDUX for those making the choice in 2004 (compared with 2001) is over $50,000 for virtually all retirees!

Some will find it easier to understand how the two plans differ by comparing verbal descriptions of the plans (table 1), whereas others will prefer to look at figures that describe the different retirement payments under the two plans (figures 1 through 3).

Let’s look at some examples. To calculate the two retirement pay streams from the vantage point of someone at 15 years of service in 2004, we first need to make some assumptions. We assume the following:

6. Later in this paper, we discuss the thrift savings plan (TSP) and other investment options with the bonus. Thus, these examples assume that the servicemember pays taxes on, and spends, the bonus.

Table 1. Retirement choices for those who entered the service after 31 July 1986—based on highest average monthly basic pay over highest 36 months

High-3 retirement$30,000 bonus at 15 years of

service and REDUX retirementPercentage of basic pay at 20 years of service 50.0% 40.0% Increase for each year of service past 20 2.5% 3.5% At 30 years of service 75.0% 75.0%

Yearly cost-of-living adjustments Full CPIa

a. Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers.

CPI minus 1 percentage point

Age 62 Retirement payments set equal to each other at age 62 (see figures 1 through 3)

Age 63 onward Full CPI adjustments CPI minus 1 percentage point

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• Military pay will grow at 3.5 percent per year until the service-member retires.

• The CPI will grow at 3.5 percent per year.

• The servicemember will live to age 79.7

• Tax bracket8

— Enlisted, 15 percent; after-tax bonus is $25,500

— Warrant officers, 25 percent; after -tax bonus is $22,500

— Commissioned officers, 28 percent: after-tax bonus is $21,600.

Figure 1 shows the two after-tax retirement pay streams, REDUX and High-3, from the first retirement year until age 79. We first look at an E-7 who expects to retire at age 38 with 20 years of service. We see a sharp reduction in retirement pay under REDUX until age 62, then a re-indexing that equates the two retirement pays, followed by a gradual erosion in REDUX retirement pay after age 62 when com-pared with High-3. For this servicemember, total retirement pay is reduced by $309,261 if REDUX/bonus is selected.

Figure 2 shows the difference in payments for a servicemember who expects to retire at age 42 as an E-8 with 24 years of service. Here the reduction in retired pay ($311,195) is just a little bit more than that for the E-7 who retires with 20 years of service (figure 1). Although the servicemember is retired a smaller number of years, the retire-ment pay lost each year is larger.

Figure 3 shows the situation for a CWO-3 who expect to retire at age 38 with 20 years of service. Here the Chief Warrant Officer’s retired after-tax pay is $311,393 less under REDUX.

7. The Statistical Abstract of the United States, published in 2000, reports a life expectancy of an additional 38.7 years for someone age 40, so we have used an overall life expectancy of 79 years for military retirees. In a later section, we explore what happens if the servicemember lives past 79 years.

8. Later on, we discuss what happens if the $30,000 bonus is tax-free.

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Figure 1. E-7 retiring at 38 with 20 years of service, 15% tax bracket

Figure 2. E-8 retiring at 42 with 24 years of service, 15% tax bracket

$0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000$50,000$60,000$70,000$80,000$90,000

$100,000

38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78

Age

Ann

ual r

etir

ed p

ay a

fter

taxe

s REDUXHigh-3

Reduction in after-tax retired pay under REDUX is $309,261 for the $25,500 after-tax bonus received at 15 years of service

$0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000$50,000$60,000$70,000$80,000$90,000

$100,000$110,000$120,000

42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78

Age

Ann

ual r

etir

ed p

ay a

fter

taxe

s REDUXHigh-3 Reduction in after-tax retired

pay under REDUX is $311,195 for the $25,500 after-tax bonus received at 15 years of service

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Figure 4 shows the situation for an O-6 who expects to retire at age 50 with 26 years of service. Here the officer’s retired after-tax pay is $311,393 less under REDUX.9

Figure 3. CWO-3 retiring at 38 with 20 years of service, 25% tax bracket

Figure 4. O-6 retiring at 50 with 26 years of service, 28% tax bracket

9. Appendix B illustrates these three situations in a different format.

$0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000$50,000$60,000$70,000$80,000$90,000

$100,000$110,000$120,000

38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78

Age

Ann

ual r

etir

ed p

ay a

fter

taxe

s REDUXHigh-3


$0

$30,000

$60,000

$90,000

$120,000

$150,000

$180,000

50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79

Age

Ann

ual r

etir

ed p

ay a

fter

taxe

s REDUXHigh-3


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Let’s turn next to the way we propose that servicemembers evaluate the smaller retirement pay they will receive if they select the $30,000 bonus and REDUX.

Get paid now or get paid later

Bonus-takers will get some of their retirement income early, at the 15-year-of-service point. Probably the best way to think about this is to consider REDUX’s $30,000 bonus as a early cash-out of part of one’s retirement pension. We can calculate how much this cash-out costs the member by thinking of the cash-out as a “loan” to be paid back later by smaller retirement paychecks.

This so-called loan, given at 15 years of service, is paid back over the entire servicemember’s retired lifetime. We’re all familiar with car loans, mortgages, and credit card debt. Car loans and mortgages have fixed loan periods, often 5 years for cars and 30 years for mortgages. Credit card debt is a little different, requiring only a minimum pay-ment per month. We characterize all these loans by the interest rates and interest payments attached to them.

The $30,000 bonus has a rather peculiar payback scheme. The ser-vicemember pays nothing until retirement, pays quite a bit from the beginning of retirement until age 62, and then continues to pay back smaller amounts over the rest of his or her life. The “payments” are the differences in the height of the High-3 and REDUX bars in fig-ures 1 through 3. Although this payment scheme is peculiar, we can calculate the implied interest rate, or APR. We have done that for a variety of situations and show the results in table 2 for enlisted person-nel. The results for chief warrant officers and for commissioned offic-ers are in appendix A.

Looking at table 2, if a servicemember expects to retire as an E-6 with 20 years of service at age 40 and lives to 79, our calculations show that, by selecting bonus/REDUX at 15 years of service, the servicemember:

• Pays an implicit interest rate of 11.7 percent for the cash-out (this is after tax)

• Loses $233,379 after-tax retirement income

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• Would be required to earn at least 14.1 percent before tax each year until age 79 on the invested bonus to make up the differ-ence between the REDUX pension and the High-3 pension.

Table 2. Bonus/REDUX choice for enlisted personnel (15% tax rate)a

Characteristicsat retirement

Implicit interestrate for bonus

(after tax)Breakeven

interest rateb

Total reductionin after-tax

retirement pay “Interest”c

E-6 at 20 years of service Age 38 12.0% 14.1% $265,126 $239,626 Age 40 11.7% 13.8% $233,379 $207,879 Age 42 11.4% 13.4% $204,609 $179,109 E-7 at 20 years of service Age 38 13.1% 15.4% $309,261 $283,761 Age 40 12.9% 15.2% $272,229 $246,729 Age 42 12.6% 14.8% $238,671 $213,171 E-7 at 22 years of service Age 40 11.1% 13.1% $288,917 $263,417 Age 42 10.8% 12.7% $252,991 $227,491 Age 44 10.5% 12.1% $220,686 $195,186 E-8 at 20 years of service Age 38 14.0% 16.5% $345,132 $319,632 Age 40 13.7% 16.1% $303,804 $278,304 Age 42 13.5% 15.9% $266,354 $240,854 E-8 at 22 years of service Age 40 11.9% 14.0% $328,525 $303,025 Age 42 11.6% 13.6% $287,673 $262,173 Age 44 11.3% 13.3% $250,939 $225,439 E-8 at 24 years of service Age 42 10.3% 12.1% $311,195 $285,695 Age 44 9.9% 11.6% $271,303 $245,803 Age 46 9.5% 11.2% $235,769 $210,269 E-8 at 26 years of service Age 44 8.8% 10.4% $290,766 $265,266 Age 46 8.5% 10.0% $252,794 $227,294 Age 48 8.0% 9.4% $219,371 $193,871 E-9 at 22 years of service Age 40 12.8% 15.1% $378,086 $352,586 Age 42 12.6% 14.8% $331,072 $305,572 Age 44 12.2% 14.4% $288,796 $263,296

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Breaking even: What return would you need for your investment?

What is the “breakeven interest rate”? It is the before-tax interest rate that the servicemember would have to earn to equalize compensation under the High-3 vice REDUX/bonus retirement packages. For example, if one put the after-tax bonus into an investment account, that investment account would have to earn the breakeven interest rate every year to generate an income equal to the yearly difference in retirement pensions. And, at age 79, the account would be exhausted; there would be no money left. If, for only one year, the member earned less than the breakeven interest rate, the account would be exhausted before the member’s death.10 The breakeven interest rates are so high that it will be virtually impossible for anyone to break even.

E-9 at 26 years of service Age 44 9.5% 11.2% $338,600 $313,100 Age 46 9.2% 10.8% $294,381 $268,881 Age 48 8.7% 10.2% $255,459 $229,959 E-9 at 30 years of service Age 48 7.1% 8.4% $296,635 $271,135 Age 50 6.7% 7.9% $259,121 $233,621 Age 52 6.4% 7.5% $227,330 $201,830

a. We use the information provided at DoD’s site, http://dod.mil/mililtarypay/retirement.b. This is the rate of return for investing the bonus that the servicemember would need to obtain to break

even between Bonus/REDUX and High-3. This rate of return would provide after-tax amounts that exactly equal the differences in pension payments under High-3/REDUX.

c. Reduction in retirement pay after excluding the after-tax bonus of $25,500.

10. The breakeven interest rate is higher than the after-tax interest rate because taxes must be paid on the investment income. The breakeven interest rate times the tax rate is equal to the after-tax implicit interest rate.

Table 2. Bonus/REDUX choice for enlisted personnel (15% tax rate)a (continued)

Characteristicsat retirement



interest rateb



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Foregone retirement income

For the E-6 with 20 years of service, table 2 shows an “interest” pay-ment of $207,879—the difference between the total after-tax reduc-tion in retired pay ($233,379) and the after-tax amount of the loan ($25,500). Although all the interest rates are high, it is probably the amount that is paid back in reduced after-tax retirement checks for an after-tax principal amount of $25,500 for enlisted that is most surpris-ing. How do these amounts compare with those for a 30-year home mortgage? To find out, we went to www.mortgagecalc.com. Table 3 shows that information.

Even for a 9.0-percent 30-year home mortgage loan—a very high inter-est rate by current standards—one pays back under 3 times the amount borrowed. For the after-tax portion of the $30,000 bonus, tables 2 and 3 show that the servicemember is paying back 8 to over 15 times the bonus, or the amount borrowed!11 Why is this? Why are the repayment amounts so large for this $30,000 “loan”?

Table 3. Payments on a 30-year, $30,000 mortgagea

a. Information is from www.mortgagec-calc.com.

Interest rateTotal amount

paidTotal interest

payments6.0% $64,751 $34,7516.5% $68,262 $38,2637.0% $71,853 $41,8537.5% $75,515 $45,5158.0% $79,247 $49,2478.5% $83,043 $53,0439.0% $86,899 $56,8999.5% $90,812 $60,812

10.0% $94,778 $64,77810.5% $98,793 $68,792

11. All calculations are after taxes. An E-6 with 20 years of service who retires at age 42 pays back $204,609 for the $25,500 ($204,609/$25,500) = 8.2; an E-9 who retires with 20 years of service at age 38 pays back 15.5 times the amount borrowed ($394,743/$25,500).

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The easiest way to see why these repayment amounts are so large is to consider someone who dies very early in retirement. Indeed, if the servicemember dies at the retirement point, there is no repayment. The servicemember got the $30,000 at the 15-year point but died before collecting any retirement monies.12 It is because the average life expectancy is 79 years that the repayment amounts are so large. The terms of this financial arrangement are reduced retirement checks over the entire lifetime.

The second reason the repayment amounts are so large is that one cannot pay off this “loan” early. Although we are analyzing the bonus/REDUX choice as a loan, it is not really a loan. It is really a partial, early cash-out of the servicemember’s retirement pay. As such, the option that most borrowers have of paying off a loan early is not avail-able here. If the servicemember chooses bonus/REDUX, the service-member who lives the normal lifespan loses tremendous amounts of retirement income. The servicemember who lives longer than the normal lifespan loses even more.

What if you live longer than 79 years?The longer the servicemember lives, the greater the loss in retirement income for those who chose the $30,000 bonus and the associated REDUX retirement. Table 4 shows some examples for officers and enlisted if the servicemember lives until 85, rather than 79.

12. We have not addressed survivor benefits in this analysis, but we are con-cerned that the reduced retirement income will make some REDUX retirees unable to afford survivor benefit insurance.

Table 4. Examples of reduction in retirement pay if bonus/REDUX is chosen: by length of life

Status at retirementReduction in retirement

pay by length of life Difference ($)Grade Age Yrs. of service Age 79 Age 85

E-6 38 20 $265,126 $350,589 $85,463E-7 38 20 $309,261 $408,952 $99,691W-3 38 20 $353,918 $445,504 $91,586O-4 44 20 $308,262 $428,276 $120,014O-5 44 22 $365,601 $526,631 $161,030

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The E-7 who retires at 38 with 20 years of service will pay back $408,952 in reduced retirement income for the $30,000 bonus received at 15 years for service if he or she lives to 85. Living to 90, the servicemember who took the bonus will lose $532,744 in retirement income.

What if the $30,000 bonus is tax-free?

If the servicemember selects the bonus while in a combat zone, the $30,000 bonus is tax-free. How much difference should this make in the decision? We believe it should make no difference. Take the E-7 who retires at 38 with 20 years of service or the O-5 who retires at 44 with 22 years of service. If the bonus is tax-free, the E-7 will get the full $30,000 (rather than the $25,500 we assumed when the bonus was taxed) and the O-5 will get the full $30,000 (rather than the $21,600 we assumed when the bonus was taxed). Both, though, will still pay back, by reduced retirement income, the full amounts in table 4—$309,261 for the E-7 and $365,601 for the O-5. And, that’s only the reduction in retirement pay if they live to age 79. As shown in table 4, if they live longer, the reductions will be larger. Both will pay back more than 10 times the amount that was advanced.

The bonus/REDUX choice

Why would one want to reject the more generous High-3 retirement plan and select the bonus and associated reduced retirement pay-ments under REDUX? There are two main reasons:

1. Servicemembers want or feel they need the money now.

2. Servicemembers think that they can do better by investing the $30,000 than by selecting the more generous retirement plan. Under this option, there is a notion that the newly opened fed-eral government thrift savings plan (TSP) provides especially good investment opportunities.

Servicemembers who want or feel they need the money now should look into other ways to obtain the money. Are there alternatives for borrowing $30,000 that do not involve several hundred thousand dol-lars of interest payments?

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Now let’s clear up some misconceptions that may have arisen about the TSP. Many private-sector employees, as well as civilian federal gov-ernment employees, have long had the option of putting some of their pre-tax earnings into various types of savings plans designed for retirement. TSPs either supplement private-sector pensions or, more likely, replace pensions. Retirees then supplement their Social Secu-rity in the retirement years by drawing down on the TSP.

Now servicemembers can contribute pre-tax dollars to a TSP. By par-ticipating in the TSP, uniformed personnel can save additional monies for the years they are truly retired. Because TSPs were designed to provide savings for the older years, however, there are tax penalties for any withdrawals made before age 59.5.13 In short, do not put savings in a TSP that you anticipate needing before your sixties.

Retirement savings plans such as the TSP share one feature with con-ventional military retirement plans—namely, the tax-sheltering of pre-retirement income. Many servicemembers, in fact, do not seem to realize that military pensions are tax-sheltered. Retirement tax shel-tering means that no taxes are paid until the money is received in retirement. With military pensions the member pays no taxes on the accrued ben-efits until the pensions are paid in retirement. With TSP the contri-butions to the TSP are before tax, and taxes are not paid until the money is withdrawn. TSPs, however, lack the other two important fea-tures of the High-3 retirement plan:

• Risk-free, guaranteed payments or returns

• Full inflation protection.

The TSP offered to military members allows the member to choose the fund, or funds, in which to invest the savings. These funds differ by the level of risk or variability of the investment returns. Funds that have higher risk will have higher average returns for long-term inves-tors, but those returns will be more variable. None of the funds, how-ever, have inflation protection or guaranteed returns.

13. Under exceptional circumstances, the tax penalties for withdrawals before age 59.5 can be waived.

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TSP and the $30,000 continuation bonus

It is merely a coincidence that the introduction of both TSP and the choice between bonus/REDUX and High-3 occurred at the same time. Because of the timing, however, many commentators linked the two ideas, suggesting that servicemembers might elect bonus/REDUX and put the maximum amount of the bonus that can be tax-sheltered in a TSP account.

We find the linkage in the press between TSP and the $30,000 partial cash-out of the High-3 pension to be puzzling. Why would service-members want to give up the inflation protection provided by military retirement and invest that money in non-inflation-protected TSPs? Why would they even consider a cash-out of part of their pension when the implicit rates of interest they will pay for this are somewhat greater than the long-run return on the stock market? Why give up a riskless investment for a risky one if you can be expected to earn a lower return on the risky investment? Although we see a TSP as an opportunity for servicemembers to put a little additional money away for their old age,14 we cannot understand why members would want to cash out some of their tax-sheltered, inflation-protected, guaranteed military retirement income for a TSP.

14. Saving money in a TSP is an excellent idea as long as one does not have to reduce future retirement income in order to do it. For example, saving some reenlistment bonus money or special pay in a TSP is an excellent way to ensure greater income in one’s older years. The maxi-mum amounts that can be tax-sheltered in a TSP are $14,000 in 2004 and $15,000 in 2005.

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Appendix A: Officers

Table 5. Bonus/REDUX choice for chief warrant officers (25% tax rate)a

a. We use the information provided at DoD’s site, http://dod.mil/mililtarypay/retirement.

Characteristics at retirement



interest rateb

b. This is the rate of return for investing the bonus that the servicemember would need to obtain to break even between Bonus/REDUX and High-3. This rate of return would provide after-tax amounts that exactly equal the differences in pensions under High-3/REDUX.



c. Reduction in retirement pay after excluding the after-tax bonus $22,750.

CWO-2 at 20 years of service Age 38 14.1% 18.7% $307,874 $285,374 Age 40 13.8% 18.4% $271,008 $248,508 Age 42 11.7% 15.5% $254,697 $232,197CWO-3 at 20 years of service Age 38 15.2% 20,.2% $353,918 $331,418 Age 40 15.0% 19.9% $311,539 $289,039 Age 42 14.7% 19.6% $273,135 $250,635CWO-3 at 22 years of service Age 40 12.8% 17.1% $331,879 $309,379 Age 42 12.5% 16.7% $290,607 $268,107 Age 44 12.2% 16.2% $253,497 $230,997CWO-4 at 24 years of service Age 42 11.7% 15.5% $353,304 $330,804 Age 44 11.3% 15.1% $308,015 $285,515 Age 46 10.9% 14.6% $267,672 $245,172CWO-4 at 26 years of service Age 44 10.0% 13.4% $331,237 $308,737 Age 46 9.7% 12.9% $287,978 $265,478 Age 48 9.2% 12.3% $249,898 $227,398CWO-5 at 30 years of service Age 48 7.6% 10.1% $306,242 $283,742 Age 50 7.3% 9.7% $267,513 $245,013 Age 52 6.9% 9.3% $234,693 $212,193

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Table 6. Bonus/REDUX choice for commissioned officers (28% tax rate)a

Characteristics at retirement



interest rateb


retirement pay “Interest”c O-4 at 20 years of service Age 42 17.3% 24.0% $353,198 $331,598 Age 44 17.0% 23.6% $308,262 $286,662 Age 46 16.6% 23.1% $267,670 $246,070 O-5 at 20 years of service Age 42 18.3% 25.4% $391,391 $369,791 Age 44 18.0% 25.0% $341,597 $319,997 Age 46 17.6% 24.4% $296,615 $275,015 O-5 at 22 years of service Age 44 15.1% 21.0% $365,601 $344,0011 Age 46 14.7% 20.4% $317,583 $295,983 Age 48 14.2% 19.7% $274,608 $253,008 O-5 at 24 years of service Age 46 12.6% 17.5% $340,262 $318,662 Age 48 12.2% 16.9% $294,731 $273,131 Age 50 11.6% 16.1% $254,457 $232,857 O-5 at 26 years of service Age 48 10.5% 14.6% $310,226 $288,626 Age 50 10.0% 13.9% $268,827 $247,227 Age 52 9.5% 13.2% $232,774 $211,174 O-6 at 24 years of service Age 46 13.4% 18.6% $387,909 $366,309 Age 48 13.0% 18.1% $336,002 $314,402 Age 50 12.4% 17.2% $290,088 $268,488 O-6 at 26 years of service Age 48 11.2% 15.6% $359,347 $337,747 Age 50 10.8% 15.0% $311,393 $289,793 Age 52 10.3% 14.3% $269,631 $248,031 O-6 at 28 years of service Age 50 9.5% 13.2% $338,993 $317,393 Age 52 9.1% 12.6% $295,419 $273,819 Age 54 8.7% 12.1% $258,299 $236,699 O-6 at 30 years of service Age 52 8.1% 11.3% $315,637 $294,037 Age 54 7.8% 10.8% $278,700 $257,100 Age 56 7.6% 10.6% $248,281 $226,681

a. We use the information provided at DoD’s site, http://dod.mil/mililtarypay/retirement.b. This is the rate of return for investing the bonus that the servicemember would need to obtain to break

even between Bonus/REDUX and High-3. This rate of return would provide after-tax amounts that exactly equal the differences in pensions under High-3/REDUX.

c. Reduction in retirement pay after excluding the after-tax bonus of $21,600.

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Appendix B: Another way of looking at figures 1 through 3

In this appendix, we show the information in figures 1 through 4 somewhat differently. Instead of looking at the retirement pay streams directly, we look at the differences in retirement pay for the two plans. Specifically, we look at the payments under bonus/REDUX minus the payments under High-3. Figures 5 through 8 show the bonus payment at the age of the servicemember at the 15-year-of-ser-vice point. Age at the 15-year-of-service point depends on when the member entered the military.

After showing the bonus payment, figures 5 through 8 give the yearly reduction in retired pay, from the point at which the member retires (for figure 5, this is at age 38). These are shown as negative amounts. Because the bonus/REDUX is set equal to High-3 at age 62, the dif-ference between the two plans is zero at that point. The reductions in retired pay from age 63 to age 79 reflect the less than full indexing for inflation under bonus/REDUX.

Figure 5. Differences in after-tax retirement payments if bonus/REDUX is selected: E-7 retiring with 20 years of service at age 38, 15% tax bracket

-$20,000

-$15,000

-$10,000

-$5,000

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

Reduction in after-tax retired pay under REDUX sums to $309,261

Bonus

Age 33

Retired, ages 38-61 Retiredage 62

Retired, ages 63-79

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Figure 6. Differences in after-tax retirement payments if bonus/REDUX is selected: E-8 retiring with 24 years of service at age 42, 15% tax bracket

Figure 7. Differences in after-tax retirement payments if bonus/REDUX is selected: CWO-3 retiring with 20 years of service at age 38, 25% tax bracket

-$20,000

-$15,000

-$10,000

-$5,000

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000


Bonus

Age 33


Retired, ages 63-79

-$20,000

-$15,000

-$10,000

-$5,000

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000


Bonus

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Figure 8. Differences in after-tax retirement payments if bonus/REDUX is selected: O-6 retiring with 26 years of service at age 50, 28% tax bracket

-$30,000-$25,000-$20,000-$15,000-$10,000

-$5,000$0

$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000$30,000


Bonus

Age 39


Retired, ages 63-79

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List of figures

Figure 1. E-7 retiring at 38 with 20 years of service, 15% tax bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Figure 2. E-8 retiring at 42 with 24 years of service, 15% tax bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Figure 4. O-6 retiring at 50 with 26 years of service, 28% tax bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Figure 3. CWO-3 retiring at 38 with 20 years of service, 25% tax bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Figure 5. Differences in after-tax retirement payments if bonus/REDUX is selected: E-7 retiring with 20 years of service at age 38, 15% tax bracket . . . . 17

Figure 6. Differences in after-tax retirement payments if bonus/REDUX is selected: E-8 retiring with 24 years of service at age 42, 15% tax bracket . . . . 18

Figure 7. Differences in after-tax retirement payments if bonus/REDUX is selected: CWO-3 retiring with 20 years of service at age 38, 25% tax bracket . . . . 18

Figure 8. Differences in after-tax retirement payments if bonus/REDUX is selected: O-6 retiring with 26 years of service at age 50, 28% tax bracket . . . . 19

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List of tables

Table 1. Retirement choices for those who entered the service after 31 July 1986—based on highest average monthly basic pay over highest 36 months. . . . . . 3

Table 2. Bonus/REDUX choice for enlisted personnel (15% tax rate) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Table 3. Payments on a 30-year, $30,000 mortgage . . . . . . 10

Table 4. Examples of reduction in retirement pay if bonus/REDUX is chosen: by length of life . . . . . 11

Table 5. Bonus/REDUX choice for chief warrant officers (25% tax rate) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Table 6. Bonus/REDUX choice for commissioned officers (28% tax rate) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

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